Tesla Model 3 = 7th Best Selling Car In USA*
The Tesla Model 3 ended up being the 7th best selling car in the United States in the 4th quarter of 2019 and the 9th best selling car across the whole year*.
The Tesla Model 3 ended up being the 7th best selling car in the United States in the 4th quarter of 2019 and the 9th best selling car across the whole year*.
Cars designed to be fun first and ecologically friendly second sell better than the cars that strictly focus on being a good economy car.
We need to keep this in mind.
With all of the data tallied, we have one electric car in the top 20*, or in the top 10 actually — the Tesla Model 3. The Model 3, based on our estimates (with support from EV Volumes), lands in the #10 spot in the USA in November among all cars. For the first 11 months of the year, the Model 3 was in the #9 position.
The “best car” on the market is generally something you’d think to tie to a specific price range, class, or at least body style. In 2019, though, I don’t think you have to do that at all. In my humble opinion (and I’ll make the case for it in a moment), the best car on the market is now cost-competitive with the highest selling mass market cars on the market. It wasn’t in the first quarter, but it is in the second.
We don’t really know how many Tesla Model 3s were sold in the USA in January and February, but the car should be in the top 20. With less than one day remaining to order the Model 3 Standard Range Plus for $37,000, I felt we still hadn’t done enough to compare the current Model 3 options with the top selling cars in the USA. So, here’s a new rundown comparison focused on one key category: 5 year total cost of ownership.
The Tesla Model 3, adored by millions of Tesla fans from day one (March 31, 2016), was a lighting bolt in the US car market in 2018. The Model 3 has shown why any remaining Tesla critics should really stop doubting the 21st century car company out of Silicon Valley.
This may have been the longest I’ve ever taken to create a monthly US sales report, and it may have also been the most difficult. We had a strong sense of how Tesla Model 3 production and deliveries were ramping up through the 3rd quarter, but due to the intense push to get Model 3s out the door and into customers’ hands by the end of the quarter, it has been hard to estimate output in subsequent weeks — much of October.
Tesla Model 3 sales growth this year has been astounding, putting to bed any sensible skepticism about Tesla’s ability to produce a high number of high-quality cars that consumers adore.
I just spent a long time — much of the day — putting together 8 charts and graphs comparing Tesla to its luxury brand competitors in the USA. In particular, I took a gander at how the Tesla Model 3 is delivering a swift lebewohl to the small and midsize luxury cars it’s competing against.
In this edition of the cleantech news roundup, we have news about the 2018 LEAF safety score, Paul Elio’s new cryptocurrency, first delivery of an Electra Meccanica Solo, an electric Aston Martin Lagonda, death by chocolate, EU plastic recycling and pesticide ban, environmental conservatism, and more.